The most anticipated movie event of the year are the Academy Awards®. Sunday February 26, 2012 on ABC-TV will be the 84th Academy Awards® when the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes the excellence of professionals in the film industry.
Throughout the year, I had conversations with producers, directors, production persons, and actors who’s film projects have garnered recognition with an Oscar® nomination. The insight from each of these persons provides a ‘behind-the-scenes’ view of their dedication to the art of filmmaking.
In this seven part series excerpts from those interviews include
Part 1- Director Simon Curtis interview: film ‘My Week With Marilyn’ Best Actress nominee Michelle Williams.
Part 2- Director Cary Fukunaga interview: film ‘Jane Eyre’ Best Costume Design nomination.
Part 3- Director Chris Miller interview: film ‘Puss in Boots’ Best Animated Feature Film nominee.
Part 4- Director Chris Weitz interview: film ‘A Better Life’ Best Actor nominee Demian Bichir.
Part 5- Director Jennifer Yuh interview: film ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ Best Animated Feature Film nominee.
Part 6- Director Wim Wenders interview: film ‘Pina’ Best Documentary Feature Film.
Part 7- Stunt Coordinator Ken Bates interview: film ‘Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon’ Best Visual Effects nomination.
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‘Conversations With Oscar® Nominees’ – Part 5 of 7 – DirectorJennifer Yuh (‘Kung Fu Panda 2’)
The Kung Fu Panda story continues as Po (voiced by Jack Black), who is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends The Furious Five, sees his new life threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy Kung Fu. ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ received a Best Animated Feature Film nomination.
“I was on the first movie for four and a half years, a very long time, and being familiar with the story, characters, nuances, and when the option came up for the second film they came to me about it and I said sure, I just wanted to keep going with it, keep working on the story and the characters because I liked them so much. I really didn’t care what capacity, and when they said ‘as director’ I said ‘Sure, all right’ (with a chuckle!).”
There’s a well-rounded cast from the first film who reprised their rolls for the second…“It was certainly easier because I knew all the characters and they knew their characters so we could talk clearly about what each one was going through for each sequence. Talking to actors is the same as talking to any other artists, its getting into the moment for them, and making sure they can loose themselves in the performance! It was very casual and these are some of the best actors in the business, they’re very professional and very wonderful people to work with.” – Director Jennifer Yuh
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